An experimental investigation of pulsating turbulent water flow in a tube

1971 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Gerrard

Experiments were made on a pulsating water flow at a mean flow Reynolds number of 3770 in a cylindrical tube of diameter 3·81 cm. Pulsations were produced by a piston oscillating in simple harmonic motion with a period of 12 s. Turbulence was made visible by means of a sheet of dye produced by electrolysis from a fine wire stretched across a diameter. The sheet of dye is contorted by the turbulent eddies, and ciné-photography was used to find the velocity of convection which was shown to be the flow speed except in certain circumstances which are discussed. By subtracting the mean flow velocity profile the profile of the component of the motion oscillating at the imposed frequency was determined.The Reynolds number of these experiments lies in the turbulent transition range, so that large effects of laminarization are observed. In the turbulent phase, the velocity profile was found to possess a central plateau as does the laminar oscillating profile. The level and radial extent of this were little different from the laminar ones. Near to the wall, the turbulent oscillating profile is well represented by the mean velocity power law relationship, u/U ∝ (y/a)1/n. In the laminarized phase, the turbulent intensity is considerably reduced at this Reynolds number. The velocity profile for the whole flow (mean plus oscillating) relaxes towards the laminar profile. Laminarization contributes appreciably to the oscillating component.Extrapolation of the results to higher Reynolds numbers and different frequencies of oscillation is suggested.

1970 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 488-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. S. Virk ◽  
H. S. Mickley ◽  
K. A. Smith

The maximum drag reduction in turbulent pipe flow of dilute polymer solutions is ultimately limited by a unique asymptote described by the experimental correlation: f−1/2=19.0log10(NRef1/2)−32.4 The semilogarithmic mean velocity profile corresponding to and inferred from this ultimate asymptote has a mixing-length constant of 0.085 and shares a trisection (at y+ ∼ 12) with the Newtonian viscous sublayer and law of the wall. Experimental mean velocity profiles taken during drag reduction lie in the region bounded by the inferred ultimate profile and the Newtonian law of the wall. At low drag reductions the experimental profiles are well correlated by an “effective slip” model but this fails progressively with increasing drag reduction. Based on the foregoing a three-zone scheme is proposed to model the mean flow structure during drag reduction. In this the mean velocity profile segments are (a) a viscous sublayer, akin to Newtonian, (b) an interactive zone, characteristic of drag reduction, in which the ultimate profile is followed, and (c) a turbulent core in which the Newtonian mixing-length constant applies. The proposed model is consistent with experimental observations and reduces satisfactorily to the Taylor-Prandtl scheme and the ultimate profile, respectively, at the limits of zero and maximum drag reductions.


2007 ◽  
Vol 580 ◽  
pp. 319-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
SCOTT C. MORRIS ◽  
SCOTT R. STOLPA ◽  
PAUL E. SLABOCH ◽  
JOSEPH C. KLEWICKI

The Reynolds number dependence of the structure and statistics of wall-layer turbulence remains an open topic of research. This issue is considered in the present work using two-component planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements acquired at the Surface Layer Turbulence and Environmental Science Test (SLTEST) facility in western Utah. The Reynolds number (δuτ/ν) was of the order 106. The surface was flat with an equivalent sand grain roughness k+ = 18. The domain of the measurements was 500 < yuτ/ν < 3000 in viscous units, 0.00081 < y/δ < 0.005 in outer units, with a streamwise extent of 6000ν/uτ. The mean velocity was fitted by a logarithmic equation with a von Kármán constant of 0.41. The profile of u′v′ indicated that the entire measurement domain was within a region of essentially constant stress, from which the wall shear velocity was estimated. The stochastic measurements discussed include mean and RMS profiles as well as two-point velocity correlations. Examination of the instantaneous vector maps indicated that approximately 60% of the realizations could be characterized as having a nearly uniform velocity. The remaining 40% of the images indicated two regions of nearly uniform momentum separated by a thin region of high shear. This shear layer was typically found to be inclined to the mean flow, with an average positive angle of 14.9°.


2003 ◽  
Vol 475 ◽  
pp. 163-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRIS GARRETT ◽  
FRANK GERDES

If a shear flow of a homogeneous fluid preserves the shape of its velocity profile, a standard formula for the condition for hydraulic control suggests that this is achieved when the depth-averaged flow speed is less than (gh)1/2. On the other hand, shallow-water waves have a speed relative to the mean flow of more than (gh)1/2, suggesting that information could propagate upstream. This apparent paradox is resolved by showing that the internal stress required to maintain a constant velocity profile depends on flow derivatives along the channel, thus altering the wave speed without introducing damping. By contrast, an inviscid shear flow does not maintain the same profile shape, but it can be shown that long waves are stationary at a position of hydraulic control.


1956 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. 521-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. V. R. Malkus

In this paper the spatial variations and spectral structure of steady-state turbulent shear flow in channels are investigated without the introduction of empirical parameters. This is made possible by the assumption that the non-linear momentum transport has only stabilizing effects on the mean field of flow. Two constraints on the possible momentum transport are drawn from this assumption: first, that the mean flow will be statistically stable if an Orr-Sommerfeld type equation is satisfied by fluctuations of the mean; second, that the smallest scale of motion that can be present in the spectrum of the momentum transport is the scale of the marginally stable fluctuations of the mean. Within these two constraints, and for a given mass transport, an upper limit is sought for the rate of dissipation of potential energy into heat. Solutions of the stability equation depend upon the shape of the mean velocity profile. In turn, the mean velocity profile depends upon the spatial spectrum of the momentum transport. A variational technique is used to determine that momentum transport spectrum which is both marginally stable and produces a maximum dissipation rate. The resulting spectrum determines the velocity profile and its dependence on the boundary conditions. Past experimental work has disclosed laminar, ‘transitional’, logarithmic and parabolic regions of the velocity profile. Several experimental laws and their accompanying constants relate the extent of these regions to the boundary conditions. The theoretical profile contains each feature and law that is observed. First approximations to the constants are found, and give, in particular, a value for the logarithmic slope (von Kármán's constant) which is within the experimental error. However, the theoretical boundary constant is smaller than the observed value. Turbulent channel flow seems to achieve the extreme state found here, but a more decisive quantitative comparison of theory and experiment requires improvement in the solutions of the classical laminar stability problem.


2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (826) ◽  
pp. 15-00091-15-00091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki WADA ◽  
Noriyuki FURUICHII ◽  
Yoshiya TERAO ◽  
Yoshiyuki TSUJI

2000 ◽  
Vol 422 ◽  
pp. 319-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID B. DE GRAAFF ◽  
JOHN K. EATON

Despite extensive study, there remain significant questions about the Reynolds-number scaling of the zero-pressure-gradient flat-plate turbulent boundary layer. While the mean flow is generally accepted to follow the law of the wall, there is little consensus about the scaling of the Reynolds normal stresses, except that there are Reynolds-number effects even very close to the wall. Using a low-speed, high-Reynolds-number facility and a high-resolution laser-Doppler anemometer, we have measured Reynolds stresses for a flat-plate turbulent boundary layer from Reθ = 1430 to 31 000. Profiles of u′2, v′2, and u′v′ show reasonably good collapse with Reynolds number: u′2 in a new scaling, and v′2 and u′v′ in classic inner scaling. The log law provides a reasonably accurate universal profile for the mean velocity in the inner region.


2007 ◽  
Vol 129 (11) ◽  
pp. 1372-1383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoungsik Chang ◽  
George Constantinescu ◽  
Seung-O Park

The three-dimensional (3D) incompressible flow past an open cavity in a channel is predicted using the Spalart–Almaras (SA) and the shear-stress-transport model (SST) based versions of detached eddy simulation (DES). The flow upstream of the cavity is fully turbulent. In the baseline case the length to depth (L∕D) ratio of the cavity is 2 and the Reynolds number ReD=3360. Unsteady RANS (URANS) is performed to better estimate the performance of DES using the same code and meshes employed in DES. The capabilities of DES and URANS to predict the mean flow, velocity spectra, Reynolds stresses, and the temporal decay of the mass of a passive contaminant introduced instantaneously inside the cavity are assessed based on comparisons with results from a well resolved large eddy simulation (LES) simulation of the same flow conducted on a very fine mesh and with experimental data. It is found that the SA-DES simulation with turbulent fluctuations at the inlet gives the best overall predictions for the flow statistics and mass exchange coefficient characterizing the decay of scalar mass inside the cavity. The presence of inflow fluctuations in DES is found to break the large coherence of the vortices shed in the separated shear layer that are present in the simulations with steady inflow conditions and to generate a wider range of 3D eddies inside the cavity, similar to LES. The predictions of the mean velocity field from URANS and DES are similar. However, URANS predictions show poorer agreement with LES and experiment compared to DES for the turbulence quantities. Additionally, simulations with a higher Reynolds number (ReD=33,600) and with a larger length to depth ratio (L∕D=4) are conducted to study the changes in the flow and shear-layer characteristics, and their influence on the ejection of the passive contaminant from the cavity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 745 ◽  
pp. 378-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Pirozzoli

AbstractWe reconsider foundations and implications of the mixing length theory as applied to wall-bounded turbulent flows in uniform pressure gradient. Based on recent channel-flow direct numerical simulation (DNS) data at sufficiently high Reynolds number, we find that Prandtl’s hypothesis of linear variation of the mixing length with the wall distance is rather inaccurate, hence overlap arguments are stronger in justifying the formation of a logarithmic layer in the mean velocity profile. Regarding the core region of the wall layer, we find that Clauser’s hypothesis of uniform eddy viscosity is strictly connected with the observed size of the eddy structures, and it delivers surprisingly good agreement with DNS and experiments for channels, pipes, and boundary layers. We show that the analytically derived composite mean velocity profiles can be used to accurately predict skin friction in canonical wall-bounded flows with a minimal number of adjustable parameters directly related to the mean velocity profile, and to obtain some insight into transient growth phenomena.


1967 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. M. Phillips

A mechanism is proposed for the manner in which the turbulent components support Reynolds stress in turbulent shear flow. This involves a generalization of Miles's mechanism in which each of the turbulent components interacts with the mean flow to produce an increment of Reynolds stress at the ‘matched layer’ of that particular component. The summation over all the turbulent components leads to an expression for the gradient of the Reynolds stress τ(z) in the turbulence\[ \frac{d\tau}{dz} = {\cal A}\Theta\overline{w^2}\frac{d^2U}{dz^2}, \]where${\cal A}$is a number, Θ the convected integral time scale of thew-velocity fluctuations andU(z) the mean velocity profile. This is consistent with a number of experimental results, and measurements on the mixing layer of a jet indicate thatA= 0·24 in this case. In other flows, it would be expected to be of the same order, though its precise value may vary somewhat from one to another.


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